NHS set to save millions after winning legal battle with drug makers over sight-loss jabs

THE NHS has won a landmark battle against drug giants, paving the way for it to save millions by prescribing cheaper medicine.

Bayer and Novartis brought a High Court action against 12 NHS clinical commissioning groups (CCGS) in the north of England, relating to a drug to treat the biggest cause of age-related vision loss in the UK.

The firms challenged the lawfulness of a policy adopted by the groups which prescribed Avastin “as the preferred treatment option” for wet age-related macular degeneration (wet AMD).

Avastin, which costs around £28 per injection, is only licensed for UK cancer treatment despite being recommended by the WHO and used around the world. Yet the NHS groups were offering it as a course of treatment for patients with AMD alongside drugs called Lucentis and Eylea – drugs licensed for eye treatment. Novartis and Bayer manufacture the two more expensive ldrugs – Lucentis costs £561 while Eylea costs £800 a time.

Rejecting the action, Mrs Justice Whipple said yesterday that the groups adopted the policy because of the “significant” price difference between Avastin and medicines sold by the companies. She ruled the policy was lawful.

The ruling, said to have opened the

‘The money this will save can be ploughed straight back into delivering the very best care possible to our patients’

way for patients across the country to be offered Avastin as an alternative to the other treatments, was welcomed by health leaders and clinicians.

Dr David Hambleton, the CCG chief officer in South Tyneside, former consultant geriatrician and lead for the North East and North Cumbria CCG Forum, said: “We are absolutely delighted that we are now in a position to offer Avastin as an alternative treatment for wet AMD to patients across the North East and North Cumbria.

“The drug is undeniably equally effective, and much less expensive, and the money this will save – in excess of £13.5million per year for the 12 CCGS involved in this litigation alone, and hundreds of millions of pounds across the country – can be ploughed straight back into delivering the very best care possible to our patients.”

Novartis said it was “deeply disappointed”, and said the policy undermined the legal and regulatory framework “to protect both patients’ safety and to ensure healthcare professionals can prescribe with confidence”.

Julie Wood, the NHS Clinical Commissioners chief executive, called on the Department of Health and NHS England to act on the judgment “and actively support the implementation of similar pathways across the country”.